Trains, London

I have family close to London and I still take advantage of the train system instead of cars. Because of traffic congestion in and around London, besides getting used to driving on the other side of the road and small country lanes, its safer, quicker, and more economical to use the trains. Buy your tickets BEFORE you leave the United States as they give special deals that you cannot get in the UK. London Day Out passes are the least expensive and allow day trips out of London to beautiful places plus transport to the airports. If my family picks me up from the airport, it takes 2 to 3 hours, while the train takes 1 hour!

London has 10 Inter-City railway terminals, all located on the outer edge of central London & linked into the city & west end via the Tube network & bus routes.
One of these terminals, Waterloo (joined shortly by St.Pancras), has 186 MPH Eurostar trains direct to continental Europe.
The British Inter City service is run by private companies such as Virgin & First Great Western running 125 MPH diesel services.
Some train services are electric, including GNER's 130 MPH trains, which do London to York in exactly 2 hours.
Heathrow Airport (LHR) is served by the Heathrow Express train from Paddington. There is also a bus service linking central London & LHR, as well as a service via the London Underground.

Moving around the urban area of Greater London, regional trains offer the best transportation option. There network covers most of the suburbs very good, and departures are frequent.
The mayor Stations for the regional trains are Liverpool street, Paddington, London Brigde, Charing Cross, Victoria and Waterloo stations. The regional trains however stop at several other Underground stations, and venues inside the city center.

If you are planning to travel to London for some sight-seeing, from anywhere on the Southern Railway network,- make sure you pick up one of these leaflets when buying your tickets - they could save you a small fortune on entry to dozens of major London attractions, including The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Shakespeare's Globe theatre to name a few. There are some good savings to be had by using the vouchers!

Check the website for more details and always ask when buying your tickets at your chosen attraction if the vouchers can be used. I tried one or two places back in the summer who said - "oh that offer starts next week", so I wasn't able to use them.

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For 80 euros, I took a train from Utrecht, NL, to the Hook of Holland Harbor, then boarded a ship which steamed across the North Sea to Harwich, UK, and the took a train to Central London. All this for only 80 euros!

What a deal!!

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This is a very cheap, easy and comfortable way of travelling to Paris (or Brussells). The standard ticket is UK£59.00 for a return journey. The Leisure select is a bit more costly, but still cheaper than airfare. The tunnel crossing is only 20 minutes and you hardly notice it. You dont have the hassle of checking in at the airport, although you do have to check in but it is much easier & quicker.

Like the Heathrow and Stansted express, the Gatwick express is the fastest and most comfortable way to get to central london from Gatwick airport (or to Gatwick from London) it costs around £14 for a standard ticket and for this you get a lot of space for your luggage, a comfortable seat and air conditioning which anyone that has been on the tube will realise is a huge benefit.

The trains leave every 15 minutes from Gatwick or victoria station. When arriving at gatwick the station is through the door on the left next to the money exchange place with the exit being to the right.

The train journey takes 30 minutes... and yes although gatwick is considered a london airport it's actually quite far outside of london so taking a taxi into central london will cost a lot more

My girlfriend and I were taking the Eurostar from London to Paris one-way and she got a ticket for 40 pounds because she was 25 years old and a student. I, on the other hand, am 30 years old and I was suppose to pay about 150 pounds one-way! Here is the trick. The guy at the counter told us I could get a round trip ticket for about 60 pounds and not use the return ticket! I saved a bundle of money! Where are you Amethyst Biggs ?